Gift-giving Ideas and Discounts from Alumni-founded Companies

Looking for gift ideas this holiday season? Alumni entrepreneurs are generously offering exclusive discounts to the Berkeley-Haas community.

Check out these deals:

  • AlbertMing, co-founded by Albert Shyy, MBA 12, is creating the new custom menswear experience for the modern guy. AlbertMing sends a professional to you for a fitting, allowing each piece to be individually made and completely customizable to your style.  Promo code: CUSTOMIZE12 for $100 off the purchase of a custom men's suit. Expires Jan. 15, 2013.
     
  • Androgyny, founded by Melissa Millan, MBA 13. Androgyny is a fit-focused e-tailor offering premium button-up shirts to professional women. Timeless in their simplicity and aesthetic, our garments are revolutionized with a modern fit to challenge what defines fashion in a premium shirt. Promo code: HAASFAMILY for 20 percent off until Dec 31, 2012.
     
  • Back to the Roots, founded by Nikhil Arora and Alex Velez, both BS 09. Starting with a $5,000 social innovation grant from Chancellor Birgeneau and a great sustainability idea born at UC Berkeley, Back to the Roots exploded and now offers mushroom kits, so you can grow your own at home. The team just successfully crowd-funded a second product—a home aquaponics kit to grow your own produce sustainably at home. Promo code: Berkeley10 for 10 percent off. Expires Dec. 23, 2012.
  • Backblaze Online Backup, co-founded by Gleb Budman, MBA 99, continuously and safely backs up photos, music, movies, documents, and other valuable files to the cloud, ensuring they are recoverable when faced with data loss or computer theft. Backblaze is the easiest way to back up all data, providing unlimited data for just $5 per month. Promo code: LOVEHAAS10 for 10 percent off by Dec 31, 2012.

  • Cuyana, co-founded by Shilpa Sha, MBA 12. Designs one-of-a-kind accessory collections, one country at a time. Cuyana's mission is to sell premium quality products, support charity, and cut out unnecessary retail markups by selling to customers through an online storefront. Promo code:  HaasHoliday10 for a 10 percent discount until Dec. 31, 2012.

  • Hucklebury, founded by Parag Jhaveri, MBA 14. Hucklebury offers better-fitting, high quality clothes for men-100 percent Egyptian cotton from the finest Italian mills that promises to last longer and feel better than anything else in your closet. Promo code: LOVEHAAS20 for 20 percent off until Dec 31, 2012.

  • Modify Watches, founded by Aaron Schwartz, MBA 10. Interchangeable, fun, and water-resistant timepieces; you can mix-and-match faces and straps to create a perfect look for everyone. With classic designs as well as fun ones of Cal and SF Giants players, as well as a price point under $50. Promo code: ModifyHaas for a 20 percent discount, expires Dec. 31, 2012.
     
  • OCHO Candy, founded by Scott Kucirek, MBA 99. “Better for you, better tasting organic alternatives to traditional candy bars,” OCHO candy is hand crafted and contains only the finest organic ingredients. Promo code: GoBears for 20 percent discount, expires Dec. 31, 2012.
     
  • PACT Apparel, founded by Jeff Denby, and Jason Kibbey, both MBA 08. Super-soft organic cotton underwear, socks, and tees, and investments in projects that create independence. Promo code: UCBPACT30 for 30 percent off, excluding the most recent Heritage Collection.
     
  • San Franola, founded by David Miskie, BS 03, and Lafayette childhood friend Matt Teichmann. Inspired by David's father's goal to improve his health, the pair spent 12 years perfecting the art of hand roasting all-natural granola ingredients. Today, their flavorful granola can be found at top company kitchens (Apple, Google, Square), epicurean markets such as Berkeley Bowl, and now nationwide in-flight on Virgin America Airlines. No butter, sugar, or flour here. Instead, dig into rolled oats, cinnamon, flax, honey, and almonds—great with milk, yogurt, or by the handful around the 3 p.m. slump. Promo code: In honor of Cal's founding in 1868, use code Oski for $18.68 off any purchase on the online. Expires Dec. 31, 2012.
     
  • Indiegogo, founded by Danae Ringelmann, MBA 08. Do you have your own project you would like to launch? Join the largest global crowd-funding platform, empowering anyone, anywhere, at any time, to raise funds for any idea. Indiegogo is democratizing the way people raise funds for any project—creative, entrepreneurial or cause-related. Promo code: 1127brkly12 for 25 percent off platform fees, if you start a campaign by Dec. 20, 2012.
     
  • Blurb.com, founded by Eileen Gittins, L&S 80. Surprise someone with a custom Blurb photo book, a family cookbook, a Facebook photo book, or a 2013 Weekly Planner from this fast-growing Cal startup. Promo code: UCBLURB for 25 percent off through Dec. 17, 2012, valid for printed books only, and applied to your product total. (Maximum one-time discount is USD $150 off product total, and cannot be combined with volume discounts, other promotional codes, or gift cards, or used for adjustments on previous orders.)
     
  • Chictopia, founded by Cal engineering grads Helen Zhu (2000) and Corinne Chan (1997). Chictopia is a resource curated by trendsetters and fashion forward boutiques to help you refine your personal style. Promo code: CHICCAL for 200 Chic Points for your account, which can be redeemed for free rewards.
     
  • HelioRoast.com, founded by Cal grad Kern Trembath (1973). Coffee-loving Cal grads get a 25% discount from a sustainable San Francisco-based artisanal coffee-roasting company that uses solar cells to power their roasters and the USPS to deliver your order 2-3 days later for an extremely low-carbon, low-priced, absolutely fresh delight. Promo code: CoffeeBears12 until Dec. 16. 
     
  • Ink, founded by Bryan Kennedy, BA 04. Customize and mail unique greeting cards for every occasion from your iPhone, iPad or Android without a trip to the store (or even a stamp!). Promo code: CALBEARS12 for two free Ink cards. (Your card will arrive at its destination in 3-5 days, 2 weeks outside the U.S., UK, and Canada). Ink is free to download, and cards cost $1.99 including postage.

Do you have an alumnus-founded company or product you want to tell us about? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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